Pulp chamber models are used to study diffusion of various actives (such as, for example, peroxides and peracetic acid) through the enamel of a tooth into the dentine layer. A pulp chamber model is made from an extracted tooth, from which the roots and dental pulp have been removed so as to form a pulp chamber.
Whilst undertaking such studies, it is very important to ensure that the pulp chamber models used do not have any leaks in the enamel thereof which would allow the actives to seep into the pulp chamber, as this would give false positive results (i.e. a result of an active apparently diffusing through the enamel, when it has in fact merely entered the dentin through e.g. a fracture or hole in the enamel). However, it has previously been very difficult to determine whether or not a pulp chamber model has such leaks, and no reliable method of determining whether or not a pulp chamber model has leaks in the enamel thereof has previously been devised.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a methodology for verifying that the pulp chamber models used in the above studies are of good quality i.e. do not have leaks in the enamel, thus avoiding generation of false positive results.